Shloka 23
देवास्त्वां प्राप्तुमिच्छन्ति शक्रोडग्निर्वरुणो यम: । तेषामन्यतमं देवं पतिं वरय शोभने,नलने कहा--कल्याणि! तुम मुझे नल समझो। मैं देवताओंका दूत बनकर यहाँ आया हूँ। इन्द्र, अग्नि, वरुण और यम देवता तुम्हें प्राप्त करना चाहते हैं। शोभने! तुम उनमेंसे किसी एकको अपना पति चुन लो
devās tvāṁ prāptum icchanti śakro ’gnir varuṇo yamaḥ | teṣām anyatamaṁ devaṁ patiṁ varaya śobhane ||
Nala said: “The gods desire to win you—Śakra (Indra), Agni, Varuṇa, and Yama. O fair one, choose as your husband whichever one of these deities you prefer.”
नल उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the tension between personal choice and powerful external pressures. Even when divine authorities express desire, the ethical frame of a svayaṃvara rests on the bride’s agency to choose; it also foregrounds Nala’s role-bound honesty as a messenger (dūta), conveying the gods’ request without concealment.
Nala speaks to Damayantī and reports that four major gods—Indra, Agni, Varuṇa, and Yama—wish to marry her. He urges her to select any one of them as her husband, setting up the dramatic conflict of the svayaṃvara where Nala himself is also a suitor.